Just the One of Us
by Kondoru
Summary: Monad proxys deals with approaching disaster


JUST THE ONE OF US by Kondoru

Standard Disclaimers

Thanks to Henry for Betaing

... denotes thoughts.

I may have taken some wild liberties with Canon here; I wanted to write Real/Monads view in a way as to make sense...But Ergo Proxy is a series that raises more questions than answers. (And sent me to the philosophy section of the bookshelves)  
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I▓m stood here naked and he▓s watching me.  
It▓s his usual look.  
He▓s been giving me an examination, routine, as usual, with tiresome tests on the Amrita cells and what they are doing, and he▓s sat back in his chair.  
I pretend to ignore him, but he▓s looking at me.  
Same old look.  
I don▓t like that look.  
Its his smug, self satisfied look, as if he▓s just sculpted me in clay.  
Yes, he did make me.  
Or more precisely, allowed me to make myself.  
I▓m no WombSys spawn. But a Proxy in the making.  
There is a monster inside of me.  
Monad the Monster I call her. Daedelus▓s Pet Project Not that I am anything other than human...For the moment, one day I will come into the full knowledge of myself, Monad Proxy.  
Then I will make that smirking brat smile on the other side of his precious face!  
Monad the Monster will get him.  
-  
One night I was fretful.  
I lay in bed, tossing and turning, Monad the Monster was coming to the fore for some reason and I was getting bad tempered at nothing in particular.  
He came into me, in his Good Boys pyjamas, his geniuses smile upon his lips as always, ⌠can▓t sleep?■ ⌠No.⌠ I replied rather curtly, my voice made hoarse by Monad the Monsters discontent.  
⌠Why don▓t you come and sleep in my bed?■ He invited.  
So I got up and followed him into the next room.  
⌠If you▓re having trouble getting off to sleep you will be better off with me.■ He sat down upon his big bed, swivelling round and tugging the sheets over him.  
I wanted to tell him it was Monad the Monster, but decided not to. If he knew I had found out about her.  
I sat down upon the bed. ⌠Ow!■ I was jabbed by something pointy.  
⌠Oh, I▓ll have to move all those.■ Can you believe it? The little twerp sleeps with his action figure collection. Sneered Monad the Monster. Wearily I helped him fish out his toys, then climbed in after him. Daedelus wrapped his arms around me and we both fell asleep.  
-  
After that, every night I spent wrapped in his possessive arms. I quite liked it, in spite of the occasional grumble from Monad. I▓ll deal with this nutcase my way, I told her.  
But there is another woman in Daedelus Yumeno▓s life.  
Real Mayer, the granddaughter of the Regent.  
He▓s dedicated his life to supporting this other Real (who is a bigger version of me)  
I assume that▓s because she is the Regents precious granddaughter but I think its more than that.  
He loves this other Real...But I▓m not jealous...somehow.  
Id like to think of my idiot savant creator screwing with her; but somehow I cannot, Daedelus has never had a salacious thought in his life; his febrile brain is too stuffed full of half-baked ideas for anything as mundane as that!  
Poor, silly, Daedelus.  
I▓d love to be able to love him, really would.  
But Monad the Monster won▓t let me.  
She▓s quite right too I am not stupid, I remember waking up clamped firmly to an examination table, sensors stuck all over my naked body.  
Even in my drug addled state I knew one thing. I was a prisoner in an enemy city.  
So I ripped off my restraints and smashed my way out of the lab. How dare mere mortals treat me like this?  
And I remember the look on Daedelus's face as I escaped.  
Shock and bereavement.  
I▓m not your lab rat, Daedelus!  
I hid in the city a few days gathering my strength, my body was badly damaged and I had only one functional eye, Monads main aim was to escape Romdeau entirely.  
Then she sensed another Proxy HIM.  
Ergo Proxy, the Emissary of Death, and Monads love of old.  
Less of that.  
He▓s left the city now. So has Other Real.  
She▓s interested in Ergo Proxy too.  
What they hope to gain by running loose in the wastes is beyond me.  
I don▓t think they have a clear idea either. Monad the Monster told me with a hint of smugness. His memories are fragmentary. I think he▓s looking for himself. Hasn▓t he tried looking in the mirror? I reply snippily. Who knows? Her relationship with Ergo is somewhat fraught. (Typical of Proxy nonromances)  
He killed Monad the Monster.  
It▓s not his fault. I tried to kill him first. Oh? I wasn▓t sure of this.  
I caught him perving in Other Real Mayer's bathroom. I decided to say nothing to that. I had no idea what Ergo Proxy was up to.  
Monad has no idea what Ergo Proxy is up to.  
Ergo Proxy has no idea what Ergo Proxy is up to.  
I▓ll bide my time and keep an eye on Daedelus for now.  
It was Monads death and his recovery of her body that prompted him to make me as a vessel for her.  
I suppose I should be scared of Monad the Monsters eventual annexation but I▓m not.  
I want to be strong; I need strength to survive the Heartbeat of Commencement.  
And He loves me.  
Not only this new, innocent (?) body of mine.  
He loved Monad the Monster too.  
He▓s dedicated his life to tending to her...and me.  
We will play nice...For now.  
-  
I was growing unnaturally rapidly, I was pretty sure that most people did not go from the WombSys to adolescence in less than four months. I spent much of my time in eating Daedelus's super vitamin supplements and learning stuff. My mad creator did not want me revealing myself to the common herd; I lived in a place called Retro Town, some strange experiment into an alternative method of automating a city.  
I continued growing. Each second change of clothing was a size larger, or so it seemed.  
Monad the Monster would say come on, you▓ll soon be as big and ugly as me. I shushed her, I▓m going to grow at my own pace, thank you, nor will I become anyway like her.  
Not much.  
Monad the Monster was big even by Proxy standards, seven feet tall with a sturdy athletic build. She had a face like an exiles dinner.  
No, I▓m not going to become just like you I reminded my inner demon, for a start, a lot of my genes are quite human, thank you. I see you▓ve become a woman. Monad the Monster added approvingly.  
So I had.  
I had hormones and was plotting what to do with them.  
Inflict them upon dear silly Daedelus, I think.  
Monad the Monster woke up and suggested I rape him.  
I know Proxies are raving psychopaths, but really...Female Proxies are worse raving psychopaths, if that is possible.  
In many ways she had a good idea.  
I had a better one.  
We will save that for when we get hold of Ergo Proxy, I told her, it▓s too unsubtle for wasting on Daedelus. Monad the Monster pouted.  
I▓ll seduce him; it will be so much more satisfying. I gloated.  
Two nights later I started on my sissy scientist.  
When we were in bed I moved closer, putting myself along his back. I wrapped my arms around his thin chest, nothing too strange to start with.  
Then I began kissing and caressing his neck.  
Daedelus drew away sharply.  
⌠Real!■ He gasped.  
⌠Daedelus,■ I purred, vaguely saddened because I could not see his reactions in the dark.  
⌠Real! Please! No!■ He strangled.  
⌠What▓s wrong, dear?■ I asked cheerily.  
Daedelus regained his composure and sat bolt upright. He gestured at me angrily. ⌠Get back to your own room, Real,■ he snapped.  
I withdrew, not liking his sudden rage.  
So much for satisfying. Monad the Monster snarked.  
I▓m not done with him yet, I replied curtly.  
In the morning we sat and ate breakfast as if nothing had happened the night before. But something had changed.  
Daedelus had become...distant.  
------------------------------------------------------One Month later-  
I was lying on the couch, shuffling though my computer pad, my prissy mentor was sat at his desk, tapping at the keyboard and occasionally whispering something to one or the other of his entourages. He laughed at one of these comments, and I knew he was pulling one over the head of the director of security.  
Daedelus has had a difference of opinion with Raul Creed.  
Or maybe it▓s a difference of opinion with Donov Mayer? It was partially due to his machinations that Other Real was able to leave the dome.  
I have no idea what is going on; all I know is my mad creator is plotting more and more wild schemes.  
He▓s going to get unstuck one of these days. It was a near miss with Other Real▓s faked demise.  
But he▓s of too much use to Director Creed to be eliminated just yet Id like to say I▓ll help him out of any trouble he may run his stupid head into.  
But no.  
No need, Real, Monad smiled grimly He will dig his own grave soon, we need do nothing. Sometimes though, doing nothing is the worst plan of action.  
I had been hacking Daedelus▓s files in secret.  
Not all of his Proxy research is benign.  
Oh no.  
He▓s made a weapon he believes fatal to Proxies The FP bullets.  
He▓s given two to Other Real? This is going to make things hot for poor Ergo Proxy.  
Monad the Monster had nothing to say to that.  
I thought back on my failed attempt to seduce that gelding.  
I still think you could jump him, Monad the Monster said with evident dissatisfaction. I could lend you my strength. I shook my head, I know you▓re itchy, being dead and all that, but I don▓t want to incarnate as you just yet. You▓re stalling. I want to see what Ergo Proxy's found first. Him, huh? But I catch a note of approval in Monad the Monsters voice, she is as curious as I am over his antics.  
It▓s too risky for any sort of ascension. Monad the Monster is shaking her matted head.  
Daedelus my be all cute now, but any hint of a Proxy cutting loose before he wills it and we will both end up clamped to his examining table. He▓s playing for high stakes now. So am I, grumbles Monad the Monster, resurrections a very high stake. She laughs nastily, won▓t it give that old wuss Ergo a shock! I think he will grow to like us both; he▓s human now, after all. I smile.  
I want to keep my power...and your humanity. She told me.  
That it, Monad, I reply, Not Monad the Monster anymore, but Monad the Kinder Gentler Proxy. She laughs at that. Ergo won▓t mind. How the end of the Proxy Project will go is all up to them. This Heartbeat of Awakening, it▓s all to do with him Monad told me. And Proxy One, she added. Two big troublemakers! How the end of the Proxy Project will go is all up to what happens when they meet...I for one am going to support my own dear Ergo. And us. I nod, The Proxy Project is indeed coming to a head, it started when Monad awakened and escaped, Daedelus's meddling is speeding it up, for better or for ill. It▓s him who has been experimenting with blending human and Proxy genes. From what I have seen of Monads records, not one of her previous gaolers attempted this.  
But Daedelus loves to try new things...without thinking what will happen.  
It was his idea to try and raise Monad the Monsters consciousness to the level where he could tap her power...without having her will behind it. When Monad shrugged off the drugs that had kept her comatose for so many centuries, he did try to put her back to sleep.  
By then it was too late.  
I showed that idiot savant! Smirked Monad the Monster.  
You killed a lot of people, I scolded. Though I could hardly blame my Proxy alter ego...I think I would turn into a monster if I had been treated like her.  
(Monads horrific appearance is her own wish by the way; though she was horrifically mutilated by Proxy One in her capture from Mosque, she could have healed herself when she awoke; the Amrita cells can heal up anything short of a fatal injury. But her gruesome face suited her mood)  
Monad had awoken, and with her Ergo Proxy who was hiding in human form.  
His one thought was to try to regain his memories.  
He▓s got the notion that he will find them in the ruins of Mosque, a city in the middle of a landmass some thousands of miles away.  
I have no idea how he intends getting there but he▓s left Romdeau in pursuit of this aim.  
Other Real Mayer has gone after him. I think she▓s fond of both Ergo Proxy and his even more weedy human alter ego, that of an immigrant named Vincent Law.  
I think they are both crazy.  
He▓s coming back. Monad enthused. He killed Monad the Monster, not realising she held his memories. He will have to regain them without her help now, if ever he can.  
Leave him to me. I said sternly, Ergo Proxy▓s been though a lot and I don▓t want him killing me in one of his pathetic neurotic fits. He▓s going to have to fight Proxy One. Monad the Monster nodded.  
Proxy One.  
The real ruler of Romdeau. He▓s one of the most powerful of the Proxies.  
This is because he▓s so self-assured.  
We have to admit, us Proxies are as big a mob of nutters as you could wish for, we are ruled by our emotions, we are constitutionally incapable of anything more than the most basic forms of cooperation and most of us are strange obessesives. But Proxy One in spite of his quirks is fully in control.  
Ergo suffers from self doubts and nerves.  
Monad the Monster is too impulsive, and takes so much to heart, including Ergo Proxies memories.  
Proxy One is strong.  
And I don▓t know what he is planning for the Heartbeat of Awakening.  
At least I didn▓t know until Monad the Monster told me.  
He▓s planning on killing all the other Proxies. This was worrying news to me, oh, Proxies fight, its part of their nature, but originally this was for status and hardly ever to the death.  
Proxy One wants no rivals to get under foot.  
This is why he created Ergo Proxy; the emissary of Death.  
Ergo can kill, a fatal injury inflicted by his taloned hands will destroy the Amrita cells.  
Ergo Proxy is a killer, but he▓s not emotionally capable of coping with his crimes.  
He gave his memories to a sympathetic Monad and went to sleep in a mortal body.  
So Proxy Ones plan of global domination was thwarted.  
He has a new plan now.  
It▓s called the sun. Monad the Monster told me, the sun is damaging to Amrita cells. How does he plan to bring back the sun...I▓m not even sure what you mean by that? You▓re a very sheltered girl, Real, Monad the Monster told me, the sun is eternal, its up in the sky...all Proxy One has to do is remove the clouds. How will he be achieving that? I have no idea, she told me.  
What else will it do? Bring the earth back to life so those humans can leave the domes and live independently of Proxies. Is that such a bad thing? Monad the Monster shook her matted head, I▓m not sure. I have no idea if humans are adaptable or resilient enough to live outside domes. But it certainly will make for interesting times. I▓m partially human...will the sun hurt me? That▓s the interesting part of this farce; both you and Ergo are partially human...I have no idea. I suspect that our dear mad scientists meddling has given you a certain amount of immunity to the sun. She shrugged, just as well I▓m dead, the whole idea makes me nervous. I nodded, me too. But you▓re adaptable as is Ergo, I think you will thrive in a rejuvenated world. I had nothing to say to that.  
-------------------------------------------------Two Months Later. -  
Things are coming to a head Romdeau is falling apart now there is no Proxy to sustain it. I▓m not volunteering for the job, I have too many of Monad the Monsters memories for that, Ergo Proxy is still absent and I cannot sense Proxy One, who should be here. I think he▓s hiding himself, he▓s as bad as my dearest Ergo sometimes.  
I know Ergo Proxy will return, there's so much information here he needs, and then things will come to a head.  
Or fall apart entirely.  
I don▓t know which nor do I particularly care, this city has too many bad memories for Monad the Monster.  
I▓m going to up and leave when I become Monad.  
Daedelus won▓t like it.  
I don▓t care less.  
He▓s going to suffer, chortled Monad the Monster. I nodded, I knew it. He knows how to activate the city's self-destruct mechanism. (What is an eternal city like Romdeau doing with a self destruct device, pray? But you hardly need one, shut down power to the magnetic field and the dome will collapse under its own weight.) Monad informed me.  
Given a few weeks of systems hacking I could do it myself. I told her.  
Better let Daedelus do it. Monad the Monster adds smugly.  
I nod in assent. That will be nice for him. Daedelus will have to die.  
Or, if I could not bear to kill him; to simply turn my back and abandon him, that would kill him just as effectively as any physical act of mine.  
I will do this.

oOo 


End file.
